Former State Senator Michael Johnston announced his bid for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Colorado today. Johnston, a well-known Denver Democrat is possibly best known for his support of Amendment 66, an almost billion-dollar tax increase on the 2013 ballot that failed spectacularly. Coloradans rejected the measure by an almost 2 to 1 margin.

In his announcement speech, Johnston coined a new term – “frontier fairness” – to reference his progressive agenda. One clear platform item Johnston outlined is a promise of two years of debt free college or job training. He declined to outline how his administration would pay for such a large-ticket budget item. 

“Michael Johnston is clearly making an appeal to run on the far left of his party with Bernie Sanders-style promises,” said Kelly Maher, executive director of Compass Colorado. “I like a good alliterative, poll-tested slogan as much as the next gal, but I hope that ‘frontier fairness’ equates to more than just using government force to make Coloradans pay for more programs.” 

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